A Film About Jack Sheldon

A Los Angeles man and wife, Doug McIntyre and Penny Peyser, last night premiered Trying To Get Good, a film about the trumpeter, singer and outrageous humorist Jack Sheldon. They and others know that Sheldon is one of the most gifted musicians alive. They hope that the film will help bring him general recognition that he has deserved since the early 1950s. From Gary Goldstein's story in yesterday's Los Angeles Times:

The couple spent more than five of their nearly six wedded years cobbling together this labor of love about Jack Sheldon, the best jazz trumpeter you may have never heard of despite his ubiquitous, over half-century presence on the Los Angeles entertainment scene. One of the pair's wishes for the film is that it helps Sheldon, now 76, achieve a wider respect and fan base, particularly from those less-embracing East Coast jazz critics. "Maybe they'll drop their West Coast bias for five minutes and just listen to what Jack's playing,"

To read all of Goldstein's story and his sidebar review of the Sheldon film, click here. Let's hope that the film makes it to DVD soon.

Late last year, this Rifftides posting recalled the first time I heard Sheldon.